diff --git a/plugins/smolnet.py b/plugins/smolnet.py
index 470cf79..a34c6e4 100644
--- a/plugins/smolnet.py
+++ b/plugins/smolnet.py
@@ -27,20 +27,20 @@ setting, and every setting has a default, so a site can switch it on with just
 Why link-only paragraphs rather than lists: gemtext has one kind of link, a line
 beginning `=>`, so a renderer has to lift links out of the prose. itsybitsy's
 gemtext renderer emits a bare `=>` line for a paragraph that holds nothing but
-links, and tolerates soft breaks inside it, so a run of links on consecutive
-lines comes out as a clean run of link lines. A Markdown list would instead
-print a bullet *and* a link line for every entry, listing everything twice.
+links, so a run of links comes out as a clean run of link lines. A Markdown list
+would instead print a bullet *and* a link line for every entry, listing
+everything twice.
 
 Gemini clients number link lines themselves, which means a menu of areas is
 dialled by number without this plugin writing a single bracket.
 
-The trade-off, measured rather than assumed: that shape is exact in gemtext and
-in XHTML-MP, where each link keeps its own line, but the `text` renderer used
-for Nex and Gopher reflows the run into a paragraph, so an index comes out as
-`RANDOM · 4 (/area/random) PLACE · 7 (/area/place) …`. A Markdown list would be
-the better answer for those two and the worse answer for the other three. Links
-win, because gemtext is what a capsule is mostly read over; a site serving Nex
-or Gopher as its main face should flip this.
+The links are separated by **hard breaks**, which is two trailing spaces. gemtext
+lifts each link out either way, but the inline formats lay a paragraph out as
+flowing text, so with soft breaks a six-item menu renders as one run-on line in a
+browser and on a handset. A hard break becomes `<br/>` there and costs gemtext
+nothing. The `text` renderer used for Nex and Gopher flattens both break kinds to
+a space and still reflows, which is the one format this shape does not serve; a
+site whose main face is Gopher should emit lists instead.
 """
 
 import os
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ class CapsuleGenerator(Generator):
         index = ["# %s" % s.get("SITENAME", "index"), ""]
         if sections:
             index += ["## %s" % labels["sections"], ""]
-            index.append("\n".join(
+            index.append("  \n".join(
                 link("%s · %d" % (category, len(items)),
                      "/%s/%s" % (section_dir, category.slug))
                 for category, items in sections
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ class CapsuleGenerator(Generator):
                       link(labels["archive"], "/archive"), ""]
         if pages:
             index += ["## %s" % labels["pages"], "",
-                      "\n".join(link(p.title, "/%s" % p.slug) for p in pages), ""]
+                      "  \n".join(link(p.title, "/%s" % p.slug) for p in pages), ""]
         tagline = s.get("SMOLNET_TAGLINE")
         if tagline:
             index += ["---", "", tagline, ""]
@@ -306,7 +306,11 @@ class CapsuleGenerator(Generator):
             if getattr(doc, "date", None):
                 label = "%s · %s" % (doc.date.strftime("%d %b %y"), doc.title)
             rows.append(link(label, "/%s" % doc.slug))
-        return "\n".join(rows)
+        # Hard breaks, which is two trailing spaces in CommonMark. gemtext lifts
+        # each link to its own => line either way, but the inline formats lay a
+        # paragraph out as flowing text, so without these the whole menu renders
+        # as one run-on line in a browser and on a handset.
+        return "  \n".join(rows)
 
     def _read(self, doc):
         with open(doc.source_path, encoding="utf-8") as fh: